Bundle of Holding - Hillfolk

I've always been intrigued by the Hillfolk RPG. When I used to listen to the Ken & Robin Talk About Stuff Podcast, Robin would often talk about the Hillfolk RPG. I simply never could justify buying a copy without a group eager to play in the default setting.

You can get the Starter Bundle of Hillfolk for just US$5.95 you get all six titles in this revived offer's Starter Collection (retail value $22.50) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete 240-page Hillfolk core rulebook and five "Series Pitches," short treatments that can inspire you to run DramaSystem games in other times and places: Encore, Iron Tsar, Narcocorrido, Sheep's Clothing, and Terminal X.

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $15.15, you'll level up and also get this revival's entire Bonus Collection with ten more titles worth an additional $39.50, including the 208-page companion volume Blood on the Snow, a set of atmospheric MP3 music tracks, the handy Hillfolk card deck, and seven more Series Pitches: Art and Murder, Campus Desk, Honor Among Thieves, No Crowns, Niflgap, Promised Land, and a pitch exclusive to this offer and sold nowhere else, Do What Thou Wilt.

 

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Deal of the Day - Carcass Crawler: Issue Two (OSE Zine)

I'm a huge fan of Old School Essentials. I am also a huge fan of zines. Put them together and you have a huge winner. That's what you get with the Carcass Crawler series.

Carcass Crawler: Issue Two is Today's Deal of the Day. Normally 7.50 in PDF, but until tomorrow it is on sale for 3 bucks.

Issue 2 of Carcass Crawler — the official Old-School Essentials zine! Each issue is packed with new material for your games, including new character classes and races, new spells and magic items, new monsters, optional and expanded rules, referee advice, news, previews of in-development products, short adventures, and more!

In This Issue

New classes and races: Two new elf variants. The phase elf and the wood elf.

Item-based encumbrance system: A simple system for tracking characters' loads and movement rates, based on the number of items carried. (No more need to add up coins and weights.)

Town services: Guidelines and prices for inns, jewelers, money changers, and traders, including a simple optional rule for haggling.

Hiring retainers: Tables and extra guidelines for locating and hiring retainers.

Quick equipment: A set of tables for expediting character creation by randomly selecting starting gear.

Energy weapons: Complete rules for introducing high-tech energy blades and guns into your game, either as alien relics found in long lost treasure hoards or to accompany the sci-fi inspired classes in Carcass Crawler issue 1 (the hephaestan and kineticist).

Snake cult monsters: 8 brand new monsters: creepy undead, guardian constructs, and devious serpents.

The tomb of Aum-Pharath: A mini-adventure in the trap-filled ruins of a snake cult temple.

Adjudicating traps: Advice and optional guidelines for making traps a fun and engaging part of the game.

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Kickstarter - Folio #30 The Great Maze Adventure! (1e & 5e)

Part 5 of a new AD&D and 5E Mega-Dungeon Adventure Set, The Virgin Mine!

This is far from the first time I've highlighted a Kickstarter from Art of the Genre. If I were actually organized, I'd be able to show off a gaming shelf of Folio goodness. I'm not organized, so that isn't happening anytime soon ;)

Scott has an amazing ability to grab the right cover artist for his projects, and this time is no different. Detachable covers, much like the classic TSR era covers of old, are always an appreciated touch.

Folio #30 is the 5th of 6 in a series of Kickstarters. 22 bucks (plus shipping) gets you print plus PDF. PDF only is 12 bucks. All 5 releases in the series in print plus PDF is 110 plus shipping.

Join the adventure as Art of the Genre continues to add content to its first new mega-dungeon in over three years!  This fifth part of a six phase mega-campaign is based around 5th level characters in a completely revolutionary setting.  I've specially designed the dungeon to breathe new life into those low-level adventuring levels while allowing the DM the ability to create incredible story arcs with old favorite monsters like lizardmen, giant serpents, huge toads, and even early fantasy RPG video game monsters inspired from classic crawls like Wizardry and Bard's Tale!

The Virgin Mine setting revolves around an adventuring company moving into the wild jungles ruins around the Imperial Capital city of Nextyaria.  Here, they will match wits against other treasure-seeking adventuring companies as well as the intelligent dungeon that hosts relic treasures with nearly unlimited power.

Folio #30 will introduce characters to the next section of the massive Virgin Mine Dungeon, The Great Maze! Unlike normal dungeons, this one carries various mysteries and wrinkles that 'bend' the rules of character advancement, and strategy will need to be employed as the party learns the ropes within the Virgin Mine Dungeon setting.  Dungeon details include 2D standard hex maps as well as fully 3D renderings of The Great Maze section of The Virgin Mine.  A gazetteer section will give background on the new rules for the dungeon.  Five new monsters lurk within, as well as new magical treasure.  It also features a fully removable and stand-alone cover in perfect OSR tradition that acts as a DM Screen!

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Humble Bundle - 13th Age RPG MegaBundle

I remember snagging 13th Age when it was first released. It was D20 based, so it was familiar, but too far from my OSR comfort zone, so it went on the bookshelf. That was 10 years ago, and now having heard so much good said about 13th Age over the past few years, I regret not giving it a closer look.

From the 13th Age website:

13th Age combines the best parts of traditional d20-rolling fantasy gaming with new story-focused rules, designed so you can run the kind of game you most want to play with your group. Created by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet, 13th Age gives you all the tools you need to make unique characters who are immediately embedded in the setting in important ways; quickly prepare adventures based on the PCs’ backgrounds and goals; create your own monsters; fight exciting battles; and focus on what’s always been cool and fun about fantasy adventure gaming:

• Icon relationships and One Unique Things offer exciting storytelling possibilities
• Backgrounds provide a simple, flexible skill system drawn from characters’ personal histories
• Escalation dice enable fun, fast-moving D20 combat.
• Owlbears will rip PC’s limbs off to feed their young.

For 18 bucks, you can snag a very sizeable 13th Age Bundle (27 PDFs and a coupon for 25% off Print at the Pelgrane Website)

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Re-learning a Slightly Painful Lesson....

Today instead of doing something "fun" I've bee trying to fix a mistake I made. What was my mistake? Well despite knowing better I utterly failed in properly backing up some important RPG files.....

I'm one of those guys who should know better, but can still manage to mess stuff up anyway, despite my best efforts (i.e. my best isn't good enough). I generally believe in the adage that if you don't have your important files backed up in three places, you don't have your important files. Most of my files are saved on a couple of computers and I have a couple of larger (8TB) portable drives that I use to keep a tertiary backup at my family's farm, which is a good 12 hour drive away. Whenever I visit I bring one drive and swap it out with the one that is already there.

Thing is I cannot afford to back up ALL of my files because I have my entire video collection on a home server....I will be fixing that soon, but not soon enough to save all of my 3d printing files. I had a lot of .stl's on a portable drive and I-kid-you-not as I went to pick it up to make a copy of everything on my home server I knocked it off of the table. Now the drive doesn't work.....

"Luckily" a good chunk of my files are available to download again from DriveThruRPG and MyMiniFactory, but most of the stuff I had picked up on Patreon over the years...... *POOF*. Anything that was actually conveniently organized........*POOF*.

I'm probably 30 hours into downloading what I can......and once it's organized I'm thinking that I need to burn these to some M-Discs.

Now all of my "regular" RPG files are at least thrice back-up, but please....take my pain-in-the-ass (it's actually a little sore as I'm taking a break from downloading and organizing a bazillion files.....to type this) as a mental note for you to back your files up. Have at least three copies and one off-site.

Kickstarter - Ascendant: Platinum Edition (Supers)

A revised second printing of the core rules, the game’s first official sourcebook, and our premiere graphic novel, all in one bundle!

First things first. If you own the first printing of Ascendant, it is now out of print but it is fully compatible with Ascendant: Platinum Edition. You do not need the Platinum Edition. If you missed it the first time around, this is your opportunity to snag one of the better supers RPGs I've come across, if not the best. I love the genre, but I have high standards for RPGs in that genre

Ascendant: Platinum Edition is 20 bucks for the core book in PDF, and 60 for print plus PDF.

        In the 496-page Ascendant core rulebook, you get the following:

• Elegant game mechanics that simulate the physics of a comic-book world using easy-to-reference real-life benchmarks.
• A color-coded challenge action resolution table (CHART) that resolves complex actions with super speed.
• An infinitely scalable system that lets you play heroes of any power level, from streetfighters to living gods, and replicate virtually any character from your favorite anime, comic, manga, or movie settings.
• Countless customizable powers using an easy-to-use modifier tag system that matches your powers specific to your character concept.
• Comprehensive detective mechanics for investigating crimes, interviewing witnesses, and finding clues.
• Detailed options for super-geniuses to create inventions, cure diseases, and even bring their outlandish devices into mass production.
• Extensive rules for responding to emergencies such as asteroid strikes, avalanches, disease outbreaks, earthquakes, fires, nuclear disasters, tornados, tsunamis, and volcanoes.
• A huge catalog of pre-built characters and objects, including major military vehicles like aircraft carriers, attack submarines, and ballistic missiles.
• A dynamic mission generation system to help you create challenges for your heroes.
• An optional campaign setting with ready-to-use heroes, villains, and organizations.
• Spectacular full-color artwork by industry-leading pencilers, inkers, and colorists.

An interview with Alex Macris, author of Ascendant

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Kickstater - Arcane Adventures - 10 Quests For £10 (OSR & 5e)

Arcane adventures and challenges for D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) 5th edition & OSR TTRPGs

I love the opportunity to grab adventures for my gaming collection, as you never know when you are going to be running an RPG session with minimal prep time. 

10 adventures for 13 bucks (give or take) is almost a no-brainer for me, so count me as a backer of Arcane Adventures.

Arcane Adventures is a collection of one-shot style missions designed for Fifth Edition rules plus OSR TTRPGs, and is tailored to emphasis the Arcane Arts. These adventures are easy to read, easy to include in any session, and can be completed in around 2 to 4 hours each.

Created with the DM in mind, these adventures are made for ease of use and can run alongside any campaign and fit any setting. The intended levels for these adventures will be mostly levels 1 to 4 with a few at level 5 to 8, and are perfect for those who love fantasy adventures and role-playing games.

Unleash the power of magic as you explore forgotten tomes, enchanted forests, and arcane laboratories. Face off against powerful sorcerers, navigate dangerous elemental planes, and delve into the dark arts to stop the forces of evil from overtaking the land.

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State of The Tavern - Time to Get Back into the Creative Pool

I've taken a break from the more creative side of gaming - writing material, adventures, and the like, in large part due to the number of distractions life has thrown at me the past few months, both personal and on the family side.

Well, no longer.

Today I received my Monastery of Zimrala Kickstarter for Monsters! Monsters!, and it immediately kickstarted the creative process for the supers supplement I plan on publishing for MM with the assistance of Glen Halstrom. Monastery of  Zimrala is a beautiful book and I'm looking forward to diving into it in depth tomorrow.

I'm going to reach out to a legal mind as to what I need to do to ready Continual Light for release under the Creative Commons (as there is still no word on the 3.1 SRD falling under the CC). I may need to tweak some wording.

Internet may be flakey the next day or so, as Fios is upgrading its service. Time will tell, but I may be more offline than online in the immediate future.

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Kickstarter - Monster & Character Encounters (Stock Art, Monsters, and More)

A zine of 50 new monsters, their traps, and treasures. These aren't your daddy's dragons.

I've known James Shields for a number of years. It was his art that graced the first printing of Swords & Wizardry Continual Light, and it will be his art that will grace the cover of the upcoming Continual Light.

James has recently gone back to working full-time in the gaming industry, and the Monster & Character Encounters Kickstarter is the opening salvo of James' return.

You can back the Monster& Character Encounters Kickstarter for the gaming material, or you can go even further and back in for the 50 stock art critters that you will get non-exclusive rights to. You had better believe I'm in for the stock art plus zine :)

 

These are not your ordinary hack and slash monsters. Each is individually illustrated and designed to present a new type of threat, obstacle, or concern for your players.

Dungeons should be hazardous, but there are dangers worse than death. How will you negotiate the plague-ridden Gore Ox that blocks passage through the dungeon? Your ally already lost an eye to the eye thieves — how do you get any rest tonight? Will any of your team escape the affections of Mamarex? Why is a TimeLok interrupting your adventure now? Who is whispering about Kel-enroth Maccabah of the Desecration?

Look! An interview with James Shields!

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Bundle of Holding - Mork Borg 2

I really enjoyed reading through the Mork Borg rules. I feel it would be a blast to run at a convention or as a short campaign. As for a long campaign, I think I'd need to see the rules in play first.

One of the current bundles at Bundle of Holding is the Mork Morg 2 Bundle. While it doesn't include the core Mork Borg rules, it does include a large selection of third-party releases for the system.

Adventurer! This all-new Mörk Borg 2 Bundle presents gloomy and dispiriting third-party supplements compatible with the doom-metal apocalypse-artpunk tabletop fantasy roleplaying game Mörk Borg from Free League Publishing. (Misery alert! This offer does not include the Mörk Bork core rulebook you need to use these supplements!) Published under a permissive Third Party License, these English-language indie titles transport you to dark, joyless worlds that send foolhardy adventurers to despair, death, and Purgatory – for an unbeatable bargain price!

For just US$14.95 you get all nine titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $60) as DRM-free ebooks:

• Galgenbeck: Sacrifice by Christian Eichhorn (Vaults of Torment)
• Richard Kelly's conversion-hack Cthork Borg, which brings Mörk Borg into the Jazz Age for cosmic-horror investigations, plus five Cthorkian supplements: Bork Cthorg, Faces in the Crowd, Miserere Mei Deus, Rumrunner's Arsenal, and Seven Strangers
• Dire Mutterings by Greg Saunders (Warlock!)
• Philip Reed's micro-hexcrawl Curic's Cursed Chapbook

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $28.66, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with ten more titles worth an additional $71:

• Three more horrific imaginings by Christian Eichhorn: Bergen Chrypt, Dungeoneer's Black Book, and Purgatory (a way for your character to return from the dead, which you need a lot in Mörk Borg)
• Five Cthork Bork investigations: All's Well at the Macallen Farm, Moonlight and Tide, A Quiet Country Home, Signs in the Entrails, and Tombs of Our Ancestors
• A Wizard's Dying Wish, five quick encounters by Philip Reed
• Richard Kelly's treatise on good bois in dark times, Bork Borg

 

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I Saw the D&D Movie So You Don't Have to! (Mostly Spoiler-Free Post)

 

Ok, kind of kidding with the title. I did see the movie Friday at the 1st "regular" showing my local theater had, but I had an afternoon date and it was the best movie time that worked with both our schedules.

I mention the date thing because she is not a gamer and had pretty much no clue about anything RPG related, so I was able to get her completely different perspective on the film.

It is important to note that this isn't so much of a review because I don't want to spoil things, but assume there will be at least one important spoiler that you may actually want to hear....I think it is important to hear, because I think this alone makes it worth seeing the film:

If, like me, you saw pretty much all of the previews and teasers, you already know the rough storyline. No....no you don't. The movie I saw was NOT the story that was presented in the teasers and trailers.

This is HUGE....at least to me. I am sooooo tired of already knowing what's going to happen when I sit down for a film. I mean it can still be a good time, but films hardly surprise you unless they go out of their way to do so. I can think of a couple of examples, but one is a big spoiler (the most recent Red Dawn flick) so I'll mention the Southpark: Bigger, Longer & Uncut movie. When the boys went hard R singing a few minutes in it was like a refreshing slap in the face if all you were used to was the TV show.....to me that was a great surprise.

Anyway, there was some good humor, plenty of Easter Eggs that didn't get in the way of the film (so no biggie for those that didn't recognize them) and I'll admit when the BBG fight went down I was going all Gamer and thought the PCs were going to zig...and they zagged. Did not see it coming at all and while I thought my idea was gamer-creative, I think it'd have been lost on the non-gamers in the audience and probably not a good cinematic/storytelling way for the PCs to win.

The only thing I didn't really like about the film is it just felt like there was a bit of name-dropping that might not have really added much, but my date didn't really notice because to her one name was just as good as another.

Honestly though, I think it has been the best D&D movie to date, which might not be saying much. It was enjoyable and I'll get it when it comes on Blu-Ray for sure. I would recommend seeing it, even if you bring a non-gamer. I'm hoping that they'll release a tie-in adventure or even a campaign (for all I know they've already done this) because there is plenty of main-storyline adjacent stuff to work with.....

Humble Bundle - Return to the World of Dungeons & Dragons (Graphic Novels)

I remember when DC Comics published Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms, and Dragonlance comics. I bought them as I found them, and they were good, if popcorn, reading.

One of the latest bundles over at Humble Bundle is the Return to the World of Dungeons & Dragons Bundle, which appears to include some of the DC-era titles as well as later releases, including Baldur's Gate.

Damn it! I'm in at 18 bucks for the full collection. Popcorn reading for the win :)

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Bundle of Holding - Clement Sector 3E (Cepheus Engine)

Ah. Cepheus Engine. We almost lost the open Traveller clone with the whole OGL debacle earlier this year. Thankfully, Cepheus Engine is here to stay and it is well supported.

Adventurer! This all-new Clement Sector 3E Bundle presents the 2021 Third Edition of the space-opera tabletop roleplaying game from Independence Games that uses the Cepheus Engine based on the First Edition of Mongoose Traveller. Set in a distant space sector stranded after a wormhole collapse, Clement Sector has grown and matured through three editions to become one of the largest and best-supported lines based on this popular open license. Fight epic space battles – explore new worlds – become a pirate or bounty hunter – it's all possible in Clement Sector, and this big bundle provides the foundation for many exploits.

For just US$17.95 you get all seven titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $87) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete standalone 673-page Clement Sector Third Edition core rulebook (2021), the character expansion Diverse Roles, the world and star system generation sourcebook Unmerciful Frontier: The CCA Sourcebook, and four starship supplements: Anderson and Felix Guide to Naval Architecture 3E, Wendy's Guide to the Fleets of Hub Subsector, Pleiades-class Light Freighter, and Roosevelt-class Intercept Destroyer.

And if you pay more than the threshold price of $35.62, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with nine more titles worth an additional $123, including Port of Entry; three subsector sourcebooks – Hub, Sequoyah, and The Colonies; and five background sourcebooks: Manhunters: Bounty Hunters, Outlaw, Skull and Crossbones, Tree of Life: Altrants, and Wondrous Menagerie: Uplifts.

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Sale - SideQuest Decks 1.99 in PDF (Inkwell Designs)

I've been a huge Inkwell Designs fan since their first Dungeonmorph Dice Set years ago. Currently, Inkwell has a sale on their SideQuest Decks Collection. There are a total of 16 decks, each at 1.99 in PDF. Print decks are available too (and I own most decks in print) and I find the decks extremely useful when you need an adventure "on-demand" on short notice.

I do not know how long the sale will continue for, so don't wait too long.

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Old School Sale - Kent David Kelly Publishing (Oldskull, Hawk & Moor)

Kent David Kelly has one of the most prolific and extensive collections of releases for old-school gaming as well as the history of Dungeons & Dragons. Kent David Kelly's entire collection of titles, including some Platinum Best Sellers at DTRPG, is on sale for 99 cents each for the next day and a half (or so) as I put this post together.

Time for me to fill the holes in my collection...

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Kickstarter - Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised Rulebook

Swords & Wizardry (White Box plus Supplements) is one of the original three retro-clones, including OSRIC (AD&D 1e) and Labyrinth Lord (B/X) (others may include Castles in Crusades in this discussion but I see C&C as more "proto" retro-clone).

One of the major changes Swords & Wizardry made from its source material was whittling the number of saving throw categories down to a single save number.

I am, personally, a great fan of Swords & Wizardry in all of its flavors - White Box for its streamlined ruleset, Core for its expanded rules while keeping the classes to the core four, and Complete for being, well, essentially "complete". 

Matt Finch and his company, Mythmere Games, are kickstarting Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised Rulebook, which is essentially the 5th printing of S&W Complete and the first to not be released under the OGL, but most likely the upcoming ORC license or something similar. 

The S&W Complete Kickstarter has already hit $50k in funding in less than 12 hrs. Now that's impressive!

Looks like I'll be adding another printing of Swords & Wizardry Complete to my collection :)

For anyone who's completely unfamiliar with the game, Swords & Wizardry is a tabletop fantasy roleplaying game. All the rules are in this book, and all you'll need in addition are a set of gaming dice (20 sided, 8 sided, etc.), paper, and pencil. Many people also play with miniatures, but they aren't necessary.

Swords & Wizardry is one of the oldest of the Old School Renaissance ("OSR") games, originally written in 2008, with a large following throughout the world. Hundreds of adventures have been written for use with the system by multiple publishers, and these are still compatible with this version of the game.

The game is much more "rules-light" than most fantasy roleplaying games, so it's fast and easy to learn the basics and start playing.

Swords & Wizardry contains a full set of 9 character classes, all the rules you need to play, including all the monsters, spells, and treasure tables.

The game rules of OD&D are similar to the B/X rules, so this game can be viewed as an "advanced" version of the B/X rules in many ways.

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Kickstarter - D100 Dungeon Hooks, Fantasy RPG Encounters by Philip Reed

These 100 encounter hooks were created for use with fantasy roleplaying games. Each hook includes enough info to inspire the GM.

It's from Phil Reed. Need I say more? 

D100 Dungeon Hooks, Fantasy RPG Encounters by Philip Reed Kickstarter is 5 bucks in PDF, 6 bucks for PDF plus POD, and 12 bucks plus shipping for saddle stitched print plus PDF.

I'm in for the saddle-stitched print :)

Created by Philip Reed (PDFs available at DriveThruRPG), this collection of D100 encounter hooks was designed for use with most fantasy roleplaying games. Primarily a source of inspiration for the gamemaster, each of the enclosed hooks details just enough of an idea to get the GM's imagination running. Mix, match, and modify every single one of the d100 hooks to suit the specifics of your preferred game system and campaign setting. 

  The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. 

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Get Your Zine on: Black Pudding #7

My favorite Black Pudding Cover

One of the biggest perks of this Sunday gig that Erik has given me is that I have carte blanche to type whatever I feel like. Probably doesn't help drive numbers here at the Tavern, but I do get to share cool things I come across from friends and internet associates......

....like the Kickstarter for Black Pudding Issue 7 "from" JV West (The Kickstarter is from a publisher, but it's his stuff). While I'm not a fan of all his stuff, I love that he does his own thing and so much of his art, and writing, just screams "cool gonzo OSR". Now I'm just a fan of Zines in general, but the Black Pudding series is chock full of odd/weird character classes, monsters, and art....lots of art.

One Page PC Class

The Kickstarter is specifically for a print copy of #7 along with a gaming journal, but if you just want the Zine as a PDF, they're currently PWYW over at DTRPG. I just picked up issue #7 (I have already backed the Kickstarter).

If you aren't familiar with JV West/Random Order Creations, I'd recommend starting with the Black Pudding Zines, but if you need a cool one-off adventure I was a big fan of Howler. I did a spoiler-free review of that adventure back in.....2014(?!).